Dear Bob and Milt,

        Since you expressed an interest in reading the account I wrote about five years ago of my personal experience during the sinking of the aircraft carrier, the Bismarck Sea, we had served aboard when she was sunk by two Kamakaze planes at Iwo Jima during WW2, here is the result of that effort.

        The writing of this event came about as a result of two requests: one from the wife of one of the pilots who served in the same squadron with me (there are about 15 or so of us left), in order to solicit from each of the pilots who still survives a similar account of his personal experience that night (she compiled them all in a notebook and distributed them to each of us); the other is in response to requests from my sister, Lois' children over the years, so that they might have it personally, and that their children might also gain some understanding, from a "firsthand" account of an incident (a very historical one, incidentally) of a war of which they know virtually nothing, and which cost nearly half a million people their lives to preserve the freedom they now enjoy.

        It seems that writing has become an increasingly meaningful occupation for me in these later years of my life; I seem to have a growing consciousness of many things from all those years I feel a desire to share by means of writing about them, in one way or another. In fact, the process of trying to recall, after so many years, so tramatic an expereince, has in itself been quite revealing to me. Recalling one thing, or person, or situation, often brought into focus another one I hadn't thought of in years. A great many expereinces other than those involving the carrier's sinking: other battles aboard the Bismarck Sea with the Seventh Fleet under Adimiral Nimitz (Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, the Philippines, New Guinea, etc.) TBM3's equipped with Aircraft Early Warning (AEW) radar gear developed at MIT, and my third tour at Whidbey Island, flying multi-engine aircraft mostly, etc., etc., came surprisingly back to mind. What a "memory file" God has supplied us when He gave us our brain! Absolutely amazing storage capacity and recall! I have to admit a little difficulty now with "recall", but after 60 years, not too bad!

        It almost goes without saying that I would appreciate your reaction or comments, both to the content of this effort, and my expression of it. I assure you I will not take offense to anything you might want to tell me about it. After all, you too were involved as much as I was in this experience, the likes of which few of us will ever again duplicate in our lives. It has, in some ways, been an emotionally difficult task both to recall and to write about. But if God leads me into commiting other things to writing, as I sense He may be doing, I want to improve my effectiveness in doing it.

        It's been great hearing from you in these recent days. Let's continue to stay in touch. I thank God for you both, and for His bringing us all safely home and still survivors sixty years later!

Your friend and pilot,
and present friend,
Andy

ANDY POMARICO - 24 MARCH 2005 LETTER  |  Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5